State Capacity and Discrimination:WWII U.S. Army Enlistment

This paper investigates the effect of discrimination on state capacity, measured as volunteer military enlistment rates. We document that WWII African American enlistment rates immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack were negatively associated with historical racial discrimination across U.S. counties. In contrast, white volunteer enlistment rates were uncorrelated with discrimination. The data show similar patterns for Japanese Americans. We interpret the results as evidence that discrimination reduced state capacity.